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Monday, 8 October 2012

Something Wicked Comes Halloween Tour/Blog Hop with Courtney Summers

Hello
everyone welcome to the Something Wicked Comes Halloween blog tour and giveaway
hop hosted by Heidi @ Rainy Day Ramblings and Lila @ Babbling about Books. This
is hop for blog to showcase their favourite paranormal/supernatural or Halloween
related read.

When
Heidi asked me to take part in this hop, one book immediately came to mind;
Courtney Summers This is Not a Test. This is Not a Test is not your typical
zombie book, but a dark, gritty and raw book which tells the story of six teenagers
trying to survive. I remember it was one of my first reads of 2012 and it ended
up as one of my favourites. You can check out my review for this amazing book
here.

Today
for this blog tour I am pleased to welcome the lovely Courtney Summers to the
blog she has been kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule and answer
some of mine and Rachel’s oh so important questions.

What
made you decide to take the plunge and move away from your gritty contemporary
novels to a post-apocalyptic zombie novel?

I'm a big fan of zombies and writing a zombie novel was always a
matter of 'when' and not 'if' for me. AfterFall for Anything, it felt like
the right time. I tabled a few ideas to my editor and we liked the sound
of the one about teens trapped in their high school during the zombie
apocalypse best! The rest is history.

What
inspired you to write a main character like Sloane, in This Is Not A Test, who
has completely given up on life?

Sloane's
perspective was inspired by being as truthful as possible with myself about how
I would handle a zombie apocalypse. I realized that survival sounds great
when everything else is working out--you're with the people you love, you have
food, water, weapons--but what about when everything is gone? When you
have nothing, suddenly it doesn't sound so great anymore...

Which
character did you most relate to or see yourself in?

I
relate to them all a little bit, in different ways. But I think I relate
to Harrison the most just because I would probably cry a lot during the zombie
apocalypse! More than he did, even.

How does the idea of a story come to you? Is it the general
outline of a story or the characters that come to you first?

It
depends on the book! Parker's voice was the first thing that came to me
for Cracked Up to Be, and a really bad outline followed. Some Girls Are
was more heavily plotted. The first draft of Fall for Anything was
characters first and a vague sense of story second, but the second draft was
very outlined. This is Not a Test was quite plotted out. My next
novel, All the Rage, is a psychological thriller and was plotted down to the
letter because there were quite a few things to keep track of.

A
lot of people love zombie stories. I personally get giddy and excited at the
thought of one. Why do you think zombie stories appeal to so many? What’s the
fascination?

I
can't speak for everyone but part of the fascination for me has always been the
fact that they force you to ask who you really are and what matters most to
you. They're death! They are shuffling, relentless representations
of death and they can inspire a lot of thought about what it means to
live. They can be as inspiring as they are terrifying because of this.

A
lot of readers me included are dying to know whether you have any plans on
writing a sequel to This is not a Test?

I
have no immediate plans for a sequel, but I never say never. :)

How
much does music play a part in your writing? And did you have a playlist in
mind for This is Not a Test?

I
always listen to music when I am writing. I can't stand the
silence! (Though I need it when I'm editing.) This is Not a Test
had a playlist but I lost if after my last laptop died. But I remember
some of the songs on it--Exile, Vilify by The National, Ghost Wiring by Neko
Case, The Funeral by Band of Horses...

Exile, Vilify by The National

What
do we have to look forward from you in the future?

My
next book, ALL THE RAGE, is a psychological thriller about a girl who
blackmails a rich classmate and wakes up on the road the next day with no money
and no memory of the night before. Then things start to get bad. It's due out
in Fall 2013.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Jasprit!

Courtney Summers has been writing edgy, contemporary YA novels on scrap
pieces of paper since the tender age of one. Maybe. Her novels CRACKED UP TO BE, SOME GIRLS ARE, FALL FOR ANYTHING and THIS IS NOT A TEST are available now wherever books are sold. Her next novel, ALL THE RAGE will be out in 2013.

Thank
you so much Courtney for stopping by. I have my fingers and toes crossed that
you may consider writing a sequel to This is Not a Test. Also who else is
excited about All The Rage? Doesn’t it sound amazing?

So to
share my love of This is Not a Test, I will be giving away a copy to one lucky
follower. This giveaway is international as long as the Book Depository ships
to you. You can check out the full list here. This giveaway will run until the
last day of the Something Wicked Comes Halloween blog tour and giveaway hop, so
the 31st. Just fill out the rafflecopter form below. Good luck
everyone!

It’s the end of the
world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little
comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all
it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former
self.

To Sloane Price,
that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago,her world
collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now
seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the
barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of
five people who actuallywant to
live.

But as the days
crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the
group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more
and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

When everything is
gone, what doyou hold
on to?

Make
sure you stop by all the blogs taking part in the Something Wicked Comes
Halloween blog tour and giveaway hop. There are over 50 blogs taking part and
you will have fantastic guest posts and giveaways going on. You can check at
the complete list here.

20 comments:

Amazing interview, Jasprit! I absolutely LOVED This is Not a Test, and eeeeeeek! A sequel would be awesome, and even though I don't think This is Not a Test really *needs* one and that the ending would be more powerful without a sequel, I will still buy that sequel the day it's released and read it immediately. And I am *so* looking forward to All the Rage, and really anything else written by Courtney Summers. I've heard amazing things about all of her novels, and I've heard that Some Girls Are is even better than This is Not a Test, which I can't even fathom. Again, amazing interview! You're so lucky to have Courtney Summers stop by for an interview. :) (And I apologize for my incoherent rambling. This is Not a Test tends to do that to me.)

Wonderful interview, Jasprit! I loved your questions and Courtney Summers is such a fantastic author. I've only read This is Not a Test, but I really want to pick up more of her books soon. I don't know how I'd feel about a sequel to This is Not a Test, but I'd definitely pick it up for sure. I loved the ending, but more Sloane? I'm not saying no to that! ;) Anyway, thanks for sharing this interview with us, dear! It's the first one I've seen of Courtney Summers, so I'm even more excited to pick up her other novels now! :D

Jasprit, I have so much love for this post right now. :) I adored This Is Not a Test and I could easily say Courtney Summers is one of my favourite authors, ever, for both contemporary and post-apocalyptic novels (P.S. You must check out Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are, asap!) I always listen to music while writing as well! This interview is so brilliant, thanks for sharing. :)

This is such an awesome post, Jasprit! I have all of Courtney's books but I'm actually yet to read one! I am very excited to start one of them after reading this interview though. So informative and fun - thanks for sharing!

Like Keertana, I've only read This is Not a Test because the rest of the books are so far out of my comfort zone, I doubt I'll ever force myself to read them. But All the Rage sounds fantastic, and I'm convinced it'll be fabulously creepy and atmospheric, just like TINaT. Great interview!

I think I might share Sloane's perspective of the zombie apocalypse. Like Courtney said - if I was with my friends and family and we had the means to survive, I would probably be in a pretty good place with a determination to beat all the zombies and live despite the odds against me, but if I didn't have those things? Not sure I would have such drive to continue on the mortal coil. That sounds really bad and quite depressing. Yikes. Let's hope the zombie apocalypse holds off for a while:)

What an outstanding giveaway! I would love to win. I have had This is Not a Test on my TBR list since I heard about it. I love the cover and the description sounds fascinating. I also enjoyed learning more about the author. All the Rage sounds like it will be wonderful- I just added it to my list for next year. :)Thanks for the giveaway.

Thanks so much for being a part of Something Wicked. You put together a fabulous post! I think I would cry a lot too if the zombies came. I think her next book sounds riveting and I love psychological thrillers so I am definitely planning on reading that one. Wonderful post ladies!

Awesometastic interview, Jasprit! LOVED it and loved Courtney's answer on what we probably love most about zombies. I'm yet to read This Is Not A Test. It's about time I do since the plot fascinates me and I LOVED Cracked Up to Be and Fall For Anything. Thanks for sharing this totally wonderful interview with one of my favourite authors. <3

Brilliant interview, guys! I really appreciate Courtney's answer to the second question. Sloanne's character really spoke to me as I'm almost certain I would feel as hopeless as her had I been in her position too.

This remind me that I still need to try Courtney's contemporary books. :)

*Sighs*I still haven't read This Is Not A Test. I'm convinced that I should after reading Courtney's brilliant answers to your interview question, Jasprit!It sounds like there's a lot of her in this book! Thanks for sharing, Jasprit! Lovely post! :)

I have only read Fall for Anything by her and really enjoyed it. But I've heard loads of good things about This is Not a Test and I'm very curious to read it! What a great interview, it got me even more excited to read more by her!